We Were Bound to Love and Hate
by jcforever19
Summary: A collection of (mostly) independent Jimmy/Cindy one shots following JC's love hate relationship through a variety of settings and situations.
1. A New Start

**A collection of seasonal one shots based on different months of the year. I'm really feeling the love for this ship lately so I'm going to take advantage of that and squeeze out as much as I can about my two beloved idiots while the obsession lasts. **

**Reviews are, as always, most welcome, as is critique! I don't own Jimmy N/affiliated characters.**

**_Recommended Listening: October by Broken Bells_**

* * *

><p>She placed the clock gently on the mantle of the brick fireplace. She despised the ticking sound it made, but it had been an old family heirloom—the only one that had survived her mother's wrath.<p>

Cindy chuckled to herself. Her younger years had been a blazing hellfire of unrequited love and familial struggles. Truth be told, she was unsure how she had made it through the misery of it all.

She sighed, glancing out the open door. A few dry leaves blew in and settled on the threshold of the doorway. The first year was supposed to be the hardest. Or at least, that's what Libby had told her. She scoffed. Sheen was one thing, but Neutron was another entirely. He could be sweet and caring, but he could also be oblivious and self-centered. It was difficult to imagine herself being as patient and acquiescing as Libby. These traits did not come easily to her—she supposed it was a result of the Vortex family's branding of these traits as weak. Giving in to Neutron still felt like a loss. Letting him peel back her layers pushed her into a deep area of vulnerability, one she wasn't quite sure she was equipped to deal with. It was simply too difficult to allow herself to be loved. The shadows of haunting thoughts crept across the walls, throwing themselves sidelong at her like ghosts. Inadequacy came slithering up her body, curling around her neck and knotting into a clench of fear at her throat.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps punctuated the hallway. Jimmy stood silently below the arch leading into the living room. He fixed his eyes on Cindy and her invisible demons. She stared back at him with wide eyes, her piercing green gaze melting his heart.

He walked towards her, leaving behind the plastic bags he'd been holding, and laid a hand across her shoulder. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I got everything we needed." He said quietly. She nodded, unable to find an acceptable response. She found herself wondering if he had brought the power of exorcism with him. Could he be her savior?

"Cindy?"

No response.

"Cindy?"

This time, he dipped his head to the crook of her neck, resting his lips on her collarbone. Within seconds, he was gently nipping at her ears, hands balanced on her bony hips.

"I love you." He looked up at her with a boyish smile plastered on her face. She felt the grip of Inadequacy loosen immediately. But what she really longed to ask, what she really longed to know— was she capable of being loved? And how?

She looked away from him, eyes landing on a box full of his things. Photo frames, wooden ducks, a compendium of his childhood work.

"Why did you marry me?" She found herself saying. A cold clutch of terror tugged at the edge of her voice. He looked taken aback.

"Cindy?"

"Answer the question, Neutron." Her voice quivered audibly, and a few tears rolled down her pale cheek.

Jimmy had been answering the question his whole life. He had put up with her insults, accepted her challenges, and understood her ancient sadness. He had seen her at her best and her worst, seen her at her lowest and her highest, and seen her shed blood and tears.

"Because you are enough. More than enough." She buried her head in his chest and tried her hardest to believe this.

Inadequacy shriveled up and with a gust of wind, found itself discarded on the sidewalk with the last crinkled remains of old acorns and rotten flower petals.


	2. Breakthrough

**Recommended listening:**** Hurry Up and Save me by Tiffany Giardina **

**Reviews appreciated! :)**

**(Not related to the last one...unless you want it to be I guess)**

* * *

><p>"Please open the door."<p>

No reply.

"Cindy-"

"Go away, I need some time alone."

She heard him linger in the hallway for a few moments before he trailed off in defeat.

She was sick of this mundane life of hers. Sure, she was the wife of the highly acclaimed Jimmy Neutron, and sure she'd been in space so many times she'd lost count, but nothing seemed beautiful or valuable to her anymore. Her skin felt like a prison, and her heart was always aching. Some nights, it felt suffocating just to breathe.

She opened up a window and glanced out at the sky. She was another cog in the giant machine of the universe. A blonde lawyer with a sharp tongue. Certainly not the only one out there. There was nothing special about her— she was just plain old Cindy Vortex.

She fell facedown on the bed behind her, smothering her face into the pillows to scream and scream but nothing would come out and this only made her more mad, so she started to sob angrily, throwing the pillow across the room as she curled into a fetal position. Some unknown poison had taken root in her veins, and made her foreign to herself.

"Cindy?" The voice came again, this time afraid.

"I told you to leave me alone, Neutron."

"Cindy, I'm worried, you spend a lot of time alone in that room these days. I need to know that you're okay."

"I see you've emerged from the lab to check on me for once." She mocked.

"Cindy that's not fair. You know I love you." He swallowed down the lump in his throat. " Right—and you've definitely shown that by holing yourself up in that damn lab all the time." She coughed violently, another sob overtaking her.

"Cindy, you know I'm on the verge of this breakthrough-"

"Where in hell is _my_ breakthrough?" She wailed, slamming her fists down on the mattress.

"Let me in." His voice was soft, loving.

She gently got up and unlocked it. As soon as he heard the click, he tossed it open. He wanted to embrace her but he was unsure if she was okay with contact. He settled on laying a hand atop her arm.

She flung herself at him, and cried into his sterile white lab coat. He put his arms around her. "I'm sorry I haven't been around as much as you'd like."

"It's okay. You're making something of your life." She said earnestly. "Don't let me stop you from finding the cure to—"

" Cindy, you don't impede my progress. You are essential to it. I would be lost without you."

She sighed. "I just wish I could have a breakthrough." A cold puff of wind drifted in through the open window. Cindy shivered. He pulled her closer.

"Everything happens in time, Cindy. You're smart and capable. And believe it or not, everyone feels like they're in a rut at some point in their life."

"Neutron, this isn't just a damn rut, this is the end. I quit my job at the highest paying corporate law firm in the country at the height of my so-called career."

"Only because you needed some mental rest and time to reevaluate things." He pointed out.

"No one else needs mental rest or time off to spend crying at home." She countered.

"We all need mental rest. But not all of us are courageous enough to ask for it." Jimmy said this so quietly he wasn't sure if she'd even heard.

"I guess." She shrugged.

"I promise I will do whatever I can to help you. You can make it through this."

"I hope that means you'll stop locking yourself away in the basement like a mad scientist."

"I will try my best not to be a brilliant recluse." He teased.

She whacked him on the arm. "What was that for?"

"Your ego is still the size of a continent."

"Your aim is still pretty good." He rubbed his forearm accusingly.

"Good, I'm still on track with something." She smirked.


	3. Farewell

**This is drawing from my own emotions from this summer, since I graduated high school in June. **

**Reviews are fab! **

**Recommended Listening: Just Breathe by Anna Nalick**

* * *

><p>Cindy's red velvet dress swished against her knees. Leaves crackled beneath her black boots. The trees lining the streets of Retroville boasted a vibrant yellow hue. Cindy couldn't help but admire the warm colors all around her. She passed the Candy Bar on her way home—noting all the middle school kids crowding around the greasy tables for Sam's special cider. She thought fondly back to the days when the gang would pile around a table and discuss Jimmy's latest invention inevitably going haywire. With a sigh, she recalled whittling away season after season talking and yelling and laughing with the same four people. Libby, Carl, and Sheen had already left for college. It was soon to be Jimmy's turn, and she was leaving last. True, she'd come to expect the separation as early as sophomore year, but in actuality, it was much more difficult than she'd ever imagined. It was crazy, but she even missed Carl and Sheen blithering like idiots about llamas and action figures.<p>

Then there was Libby. Leaving her best friend was one of the hardest things Cindy had ever done. Libby was a sister to Cindy, and Libby's parents half functioned in place of her own. The day Libby had left, Cindy had gone through all her memorabilia from their childhood years. Old mix tapes, dolls sporting ugly tulle dresses, punching bags, teen magazines with personality quizzes. She'd stared at all of it, and cried and cried for hours. Life was so fast. If you didn't take the time to appreciate the moment, it would flash by you in the blink of an eye.

And finally…it had come time to utter her most dreaded farewell. In some ways, she felt guilty, because she knew she was more deeply affected by this parting than any other.

She took a deep breath and continued down the street she had grown up on. The anxiety built up in steady waves as she stopped in front of the dinky tin lab behind the Neutrons' home. Her hands were shaking. She had to knot her hands together to keep them from shaking.

A figure emerged from behind the lab. It was none other Jimmy himself. Over the years, his height had leveled out respectably. He still primarily sported t-shirts and jeans. His eyes had grown bluer if possible, and his smile…God…Cindy could never get the hang of his stupid smile. It disarmed her entirely. But today his warm smile left her feeling colder than ever.

"Hey Cindy. I'm leaving in half an hour." He sounded so excited. Why wouldn't he? He was going to conduct research for NASA while working in an accelerated physics program at Harvard. He was after all, a genius, when it came to it.

Cindy simply nodded. She couldn't find it in her to say anything quite yet. "Everything's packed but I didn't want to get there too early so I'm just sort of waiting for a bit."

She looked up at him, allowing herself to shed a few tears only when she knew he wasn't looking.

"So…is there anything you needed?" He rubbed his neck rather awkwardly.

"It's not like I come to you only because I need things." She snapped.

"I know." He said softly. "No need to take my words at anything more than face value."

"You're the last person I need anything from, Neutron."

It was all coming out wrong. He looked a little annoyed. "Look, I really don't want to spend my last hour in Retroville arguing with you about—"

"Why?" She clenched her fists. "Is there really anything more characteristic of our time here?"

"Cindy—" He tried to advance past her.

He was already exasperated. Her window of opportunity was closing.

"Listen, Nerdt-Neutron." He grimaced. "Really, Vortex? You can't even be bothered to use my name like a normal person?"

"Just shut up and listen."

"Clearly your cotillion classes were a failure." He murmured under his breath. She frowned.

"I have something to tell you—"

"Jimbo, we're going to leave a little early—" Hugh called out from the front porch.

"Coming, dad!" He called over his shoulder to his father.

Then he turned his attention back to Cindy.

"You were saying?"

Her lips froze as she glanced at him. His earnest smile didn't seem so earnest now. On further glance, it was apparent that he too was barely holding it together.

"I just- I wanted to wish you good luck. It's been a great few years, Neutron." She managed. In that moment, all of it seemed to flash in front of her eyes, blurring her vision temporarily. Trips into space, hover car accidents, and all orders of arguments. She swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Cindy...I wish you the best of luck too. I know you'll be successful."

She cherished the way he wrapped his voice around her name, the way his lips moved as he spoke.

"So long, Neutron." He nodded, touching her arm for the briefest second. He turned and started to walk away from her but caught her gentle voice whispering to him. He barely registered her words at first, but as soon as he did, he turned back to her.

_"Don't go, Nerdtron."_

She hesitantly outstretched a hand to him, and he took it without pause. He ran his fingers over her palm and drew quiet circles around her wrist. This simple act brought tears to her eyes.

She looked up at him, voice breaking with some irreparable emotion. _"Jimmy-."_

"I know." She had never heard his voice quiver so.

"Jimmy, we need to hit the road!" Judy's voice pierced the air.

He gave her a solemn kiss on the cheek and walked away without turning back to look at her.

Cindy placed a hand to her cheek, watching as he climbed into the car. He didn't look at her as the car pulled out of the driveway. Cindy's felt strangely empty. The words she'd never said hurt her more than anything else, but she hoped for the slightest moment that he knew already…

She closed her eyes, wiped her eyes with her sleeve, and walked back to her own home. The feel of his lips against her cheek had left an incurable burn on her heart. Funny how one boy could change so much…


	4. Maze

**I've taken a cue from another (fab) JN writer (dancingonathinline) since I was short on ideas, and took a look at the otp prompts tumblr. This one fits the seasonal theme, I believe :)**

**"Imagine your OTP lost in a corn maze."**

* * *

><p>"Damn it, Neutron, we've been past the forked cornstalk at least three times."<p>

"Well, at least I'm trying to do something about it. All you've done is complain for the last half hour." Jimmy glanced over his shoulder at Cindy. Her arms were crossed over her brown cashmere sweater, and a scowl played at the edge of her lips.

"Can we just sit down for five minutes?" She asked. "I need to rest a bit before we go rampaging through the corn again."

"Hey, I only started going through the walls because you wanted us to win."

"Was it wrong of me to hope we'd win when my partner's supposedly a genius?"

"Supposedly?" He raised an eyebrow.

"See, I don't really know if you deserve the title anymore—"

He frowned. "Vortex, you're not really one to talk...you haven't been particularly helpful either."

"Well _maybe_ I could have been more helpful if you'd stuck to _my_ plan instead of calculating your convoluted formulas for cornstalk mass and density."

"Hey, that was a perfectly plausible idea-"

"In theory." Cindy sighed. "When will you learn that not everything can be parsed into theoretical terms?"

"When will you understand that there is absolutely nothing logic and reason can't overcome?"

The two had gotten really close, standing only a few inches away from each other. This always happened. The sudden togetherness, that was.

"Yeah logic and reason really worked out so well for us." There was a dangerous edge to her voice. Jimmy looked at her briefly, noting the fleeting pain etched in the lines of her face, soon replaced by her signature dirty look.

"Cindy—" He started, but was cut off almost immediately.

"Whatever, Nerdtron, let's just get out of this stupid—"

He pulled her back by the arm.

"I'm—I'm sorry."

His brilliant blue eyes fixed on her with genuine regret.

"You're what? Say it again so I can cherish the famed Jimmy Neutron apologizing—"

"God, this is why I can't stand you. At least I can take my ego down a notch for two seconds to apologize."

"Hmm, well let's think for a moment shall we? Whose fault was it in the first place that we broke up? Yours. So don't sound like you're doing me a favor by apologizing."

"You're insufferable, Vortex."

"Likewise, Neutron."

The two were now head to head. The only logical thing left to do was kiss. Cindy leaned in first and Jimmy followed suit. They wrapped their arms around each other and pulled away after a solid minute. Both their faces were very red. Cindy coughed to hide her embarrassment.

"Right so, I say we go down that path?" She offered, pointing randomly left, cheeks burning.

"Whatever you say, Vortex. Ball's in your court." He murmured, still in shellshock.

She gave him a quick smile. "It always has been, Nerdtron."


	5. Resistance

**What would a seasonal one-shot collection be without a coffee shop AU? I got a college assignment asking me to describe a coffee shop recently, so I felt inspired to use that setting elsewhere and this was born.**

**So without further ado, I present to you a short little future meeting between my favorite sassy smarties :)**

* * *

><p>Jimmy was slated to meet with the head intellectual property attorney from one of the biggest firms in the city to go over his copyright claim paperwork. He'd staked out a table in the corner of a crowded Starbucks on 63rd and Broadway—not an easy feat considering how crowded it could get during rush hour.<p>

The dim lighting and dusty floors gave the whole place a laidback feeling. Jimmy found it amusing to listen to the meaningless chatter of the other customers. It was nice to see how the other half (that was, the non-genius population) lived.

Jimmy fixed his eyes on the door. He waited ten minutes until he saw a woman with a shoulder length blonde ponytail walk in, in a tight black pencil skirt and a red trench coat. Her lips were pursed, and she sported minimal makeup, if any at all. He believed he'd seen her before…

"Neutron, fancy seeing you here." The woman was now looking straight at him. It finally hit him. "Oh my god, Cindy Vortex?" He blurted out.

"Yours truly." She smiled for the first time that day. She could hardly believe she'd found him on a business visit of all places.

"So what are you doing here? Measuring and recording coffee cup densities?" She smirked. She still had it.

"Very funny Vortex. I'm here to meet my lawyer."

Her face immediately turned serious. "Wait, let me get this straight. You're my client?"

"What? Impossible…" He looked shocked as well. "Although now I see where the Tex in Tex-Wallace comes from." She shrugged. "Michael thought Tex Wallace had more of a ring to it than Vortex Wallace."

"Who's Michael?" Jimmy asked somewhat protectively. She smirked yet again. "Jealous already Neutron?" His cheeks turned red but he rolled his eyes.

"He's name partner. We run the firm together." After a moment, she added, "Great guy. Sharp and witty and hot and all that."

Jimmy tried to remain nonchalant but it was visible that he was jealous.

"Whatever. Michael doesn't concern me. My claim does. So if you would be so kind as to sign off on the documents, you can get back to him and I can get back to my lab."

Cindy frowned. "You'll be damned but you'll never come out and say it."

"There's nothing to say."

"Right." She sounded unconvinced.

"Back in high school, if you'd just come out and said it…"She paused before continuing. "If you'd just had some freaking guts and admitted to it—"

"You shouldn't have been with Nick in the first place." He pointed out, sipping his coffee. "But that was a long time ago, so let's leave the past in the past."

Cindy looked a little hurt by his bluntness but she supposed it was true in a way. She'd put all the responsibility on him but she hadn't done anything to really expedite their…relationship.

She signed off on all the papers he handed her. He looked at her oddly. "How is it you're my lawyer and I didn't even know your name?"

"The best lawyers get the job done before you even learn their name." She smiled.

"And you're the best?" He challenged. "I'm at the top of my game Neutron."

She replied confidently. "I just won two six million dollar settlements in the same week."

"Congratulations." He offered her a hand to shake. She took it and shook it firmly. She felt a familiar twinge of electricity spark through her at the slightest contact. She decided to try her hand at a little game. She lightly tapped his foot beneath the table and he returned the gesture.

He reached for a napkin and she saw another opportunity. She reached for a napkin at the exact same time and brushed her hand against his. He looked up at her with his wide, bright blue eyes. His hand was still grazing hers. After a moment, she cleared her throat. "Well, it's been nice seeing you I guess. Email my assistant if there's anything else the firm can do for you." She stood up.

"Well I don't know about the firm but…" He rummaged in his coat pocket and produced a slightly frayed business card. "_You_ can do me the favor of giving me a call."

"You've gotten cocky Neutron. I bet the women flock to you now." She laughed gratuitously at his expense. He scoffed playfully.

"When have they not flocked to me, Vortex? You're the only one resistant to my charming good looks and impressive intelligence."  
>"That's only because I realize your ego is bigger than your head, and that's saying something considering the size of that head of yours."<p>

He smiled. "I have to go but you know where to reach me."

He got up and turned away from her. She reached for his arm. "Jimmy?"

He turned around. Her face was a deep shade of red.

"I'm not entirely resistant." She admitted.

"Glad to hear it." He beamed at her.


	6. Migraine

**This is short and fluffy and sort of pointless. But anyways I imagine that they are living together for some reason but they aren't together yet. Perhaps Cindy is his personal assistant but neither has really owned up to their feelings?**

* * *

><p>His mind was foggy and the pain shot to his neck and temples. He stared out the window in misery. It was pouring outside and the sky was a murky shade of gray. The sound of the rain pounding against the glass panes only made things worse. He heard footsteps descending the stairs. It was Cindy. She alighted beside him on the couch.<p>

"Hey."

He managed a weak nod. She bit her lip. She hated to see him like this. She already knew but she asked anyways. "Migraine?"

He nodded again, this time sinking back into the cushions. His eyes were clouding over with tears.

Cindy rubbed his temples and used her fingers to press points on his forehead. She ran a gentle finger across his heavy eyelids and across his eyelashes. He breathed hoarsely as the pain intensified. Outside, thunder rolled with magnificent force, and the noise of the storm escalated. He scrunched his eyes shut in agony, and a few tears rolled down his cheek. Cindy touched his shoulder blades and felt his neck. It was on fire.

She reached for the water bottle on the coffee table. "Here, drink some of this." She pressed the bottle to his scorching lips, accidentally brushing her fingers against his lower lip.

"I know it hurts." She sighed. Working late hours in the lab with minimal lighting and bizarre chemicals had brought this on. She'd been telling him to be more careful, but he hadn't listened as usual. Cindy had expected to rub it in his face, but seeing him in this state upset her.

She gently pressed a space below his ear. For a few seconds, relief washed over his features, until he was hit with a new spasm of pain. He curled his body into itself, bringing his hands over his head in torture.

She gently guided his hands away from his head and placed them on her knees. She placed mild kisses along his collarbone and his jaw. His eyes flickered open in surprise. Even when he was sick, his blue eyes shone brilliantly. Cindy brushed the sweat from his hair and laid his head in her lap. He closed his eyes.

"I love you." She whispered, as he fell asleep. The storm raged on. Tomorrow morning, he would forget all of this and they would be back to square one.


	7. Assistant I

**I want to run with the 'Cindy as Jimmy's lab assistant' theme for a few more one shots, so these next few one shots will be the prequel of sorts to the last one shot about Jimmy's migraine. I enjoy the idea of JC working together in the lab...:)**

**This one has no seasonal theme but whatever it's the JC that counts. (Right?)**

* * *

><p>Paying off law school wasn't easy when Cindy was subsisting on an entry-level income at a local firm. She had taken up a number of weekend jobs that didn't pay well. (Somehow, babysitting and dog walking wasn't what she had in mind when she'd first moved to New York City). Currently, she was working the Saturday shift at her local Duane Reade as a sales associate. It was minimum wage like most of the other on the side jobs she was doing, but she couldn't refuse any amount of money coming her way.<p>

It was a bleak night. It had been pouring for hours now and customers tracked in water and dry leaves as they ducked in and out of the store. Cindy had been assigned to rearranging the cosmetics aisle. As she applied price stickers to bottles of nail polish, her eye caught a flyer wedged underneath the last shelf. Abandoning the last few bottles of puppy pink polish, she picked up the flyer.

_"__Scientist seeking competent lab assistant. Must have a firm grasp of college level chemistry and physics. (At the very least) Email resume and cover letter to following address. Pay will be considerably high."_

That night, Cindy had pondered sending in her resume. She had taken a few advanced science courses in college and she'd aced them. And she did need the money…

She took out her laptop and started typing furiously.

* * *

><p>On Thursday night, Cindy found herself in front of a red brick brownstone a few subway stations away from her crappy rundown studio apartment. Pea plants were growing all over the side of the building, and the second floor balcony was crammed with weird looking plants.<p>

Before she even rung the doorbell, someone swung the door open. "Come in, I don't have all day." A man in a sterile white coat ushered her in. Cindy followed him through the eclectic apartment. Papers littered the carpets and sofas, and random science magazines were strewn about on the dining room table. "Sorry, I didn't get your name—"

He turned back to her with an exasperated expression. "It's James but call me Jimmy."

Cindy gasped. "You're James…Neutron?"

"Bravo." He gave a faux clap. "I certainly hope you catch on quicker when you're actually in the lab." Cindy frowned. She wondered if he was always this short with everyone. But he was a certified genius...and she had always known them to be eccentric figures.

"Okay…I don't know if I should be here…I mean didn't you win a _Nobel Prize_ last year?"

"Yes, but your credentials seem fine, and I need an assistant." He faced her now, arms crossed over his coat. Cindy was caught off guard by his electric blue eyes. She felt a blush rise to her cheeks just as he turned away once more to rifle through some papers on the table behind him. "So, are you in or not, Miss Vortex? I've got to get back to my particle accelerator- "

Cindy bit her lip before breaking out into a wide smirk. "Cool your jets, I'm in, Neutron."

"Jimmy." He corrected, throwing her a pair of goggles over his shoulder. She caught them and put them on.

"Whatever you say, _Nerdtron_." She mumbled under her breath. This was going to be a fun experiment…


	8. Assistant II

**Another short one-shot in my Assistant AU. **  
><strong>I'll try to write longer ones when I have a chance!<strong>

**Thank you to everyone who's read and left comments so far!**

* * *

><p>"<em>Neu<em>tron! I told you not to use the iron sulphate!"

"I think I know a little bit more about how to run my own design than you do, Vortex."

"Oh _please_, you basically hired me to learn more than you about your own designs so I could point out your mistakes."

"I'm perfectly capable of catching my own mistakes—"

The solution bubbled over, spreading all over the table. He shrieked. "That wasn't supposed to happen!" He cried out in frustration.

"No shit, Sherlock!" Cindy ran to his cupboard to retrieve the dilution agent before the solution burnt a hole in his table. She doused the solution with the clear green liquid and breathed a sigh of relief as it hissed and bubbled.

"How did you even stay alive before I got here? At this rate, I'm surprised you haven't died yet or at the very least, botched up the furniture…"

"I almost did die a few weeks ago." He said quietly, solemnly recalling the memory.

Cindy gasped. "I'm sorry Neutron, I—I didn't know."

"My last assistant was sort of negligent…she wasn't paying attention to the flaws in my particle map and one of the structures electrocuted me."

Cindy touched his shoulder sympathetically. He immediately looked at her, and she awkwardly retracted her hand. After a moment, he offered her his palm. She flipped it over to find black marks and scars covering the backs of his fingers, running all the way down to his coat sleeve.

"Neutron, these are bad. Who was this terrible assistant of yours?"

"It doesn't matter." He looked ahead at the wall. "You won't make that mistake. I trust you."

Cindy's heart rate doubled.

"Really?" She shyly tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. He nodded.

"You're by far the most observant assistant I've ever had."

"Hold on, this is a moment to cherish. This may be the first and last time you compliment someone other than yourself."

"Ha ha Vortex. Now get back to writing up the data tables."

"I already finished them." She handed him a clipboard complete with ten sets of charts.

He raised his eyebrows.

"Your productivity level has tripled since you first started working for me."

Cindy smirked. "I can be very productive when I want to be, Neutron."

"Very well then, you've earned a break."

Her eyes lit up. "I'll be back in fifteen minutes." She walked towards the stairs and then changed her mind and turned around. Jimmy glanced up at her, sporting a perplexed look. "Time is ticking, Vortex. You only have fourteen minutes and twenty three seconds left—"

"Do you want to come with me?" She managed.

He scoffed. "Don't be silly, I'm on a deadline. And I don't take breaks."

"Maybe if you took breaks, you'd make less mistakes because of fatigue or carelessness."

"Thirteen minutes and thirty six seconds." He tapped his watch.

"You're hopeless, Neutron." She rolled her eyes.

Right as she was about to make her way downstairs, Jimmy called her name.

"Cindy?"

"Mhmm?" She turned around.

"Thanks for asking me. No one's ever asked."

"Don't mention it."


	9. Assistant III

**Continuation of the Assistant AU! **

**Note- This one is slightly smutty. Nothing too risqué but just a heads up!**

**I appreciate all the reviews so far, please keep them coming so I know how I'm doing! :)**

* * *

><p>Cindy was going through Neutron's planner, meticulously highlighting dates and taking notes. <em>Uninterrupted lab time from 6am to 1pm. Meeting with Astrophysics Council at 2. Meeting with the Mayor at 3:25. More lab time.<em>

"Neutron?"

Jimmy looked up. "Yes, Vortex?"

"Who's Alicia? You're supposed to see her tomorrow night at eight. You never have appointments after six." Cindy looked at him earnestly, biting her lip in concentration.

"Just a colleague who's taking me out to dinner." He shrugged it off and continued turning his wrench around a greasy socket. His sweaty brown hair fell against his forehead, shaggily brushing the tips of his brilliant blue eyes as he intently screwed away. Cindy's heart raced as she fixed her gaze on him. Of course he had a life beyond the lab…it was ludicrous of her to think that even Neutron could be entirely devoid of social interaction.

"A colleague, huh?" She tapped the highlighter against the table somewhat nervously. He finally drew himself up to full height and faced her, letting out a sigh.

"Alicia works with Jones to procure my equipment. So we see each other frequently when I'm first starting a new project or when I need to apply for a grant. She asked me to go with her to dinner tomorrow, so I accepted." The look on his face was ambiguous.

Cindy needed a moment to digest the information. She'd asked, he'd accepted. So he was going on…a date. It took a few seconds for it to hit her completely. Neutron was going on a date. She was shell-shocked. It wasn't the fact that he was utterly tactless, or even the fact that he had better plans for a Friday night than she did, but that she didn't feel entirely happy about the idea of him going on…dates. Of course her opinion on the matter didn't carry any weight—she was only his assistant, after all. But she was finding that the boundaries between personal and professional were becoming more and more difficult to maneuver.

She looked down at the planner in front of her. The red eight she had highlighted stared up at her as if to taunt her. She glanced back at Neutron, who had returned to his nuts, bolts, and screws.

What would it be like if it wasn't Alicia on that date, but her? Cindy Vortex?

She and Neutron would probably kill each other before they even decided on appetizers. Although, come to think of it, they had shared dinner a few times in the lab on days when Neutron had to rush a deadline. Just a few nights ago, they'd ordered in Chinese, and last week, Neutron had ordered in a pizza for them to split while they waited for their experiments to synchronize. They'd sat on the couch and watched a documentary on the butterfly effect. Of course, they'd ended the night arguing about the scientists' opposing views regarding Lorenz's methods of postulation.

"Cindy?" He called her name. She'd been looking off into the distance pensively for a solid minute now.

Cindy turned around, arrested by the sight of Neutron's sparkling eyes and the beads of sweat suspended on his tanned neck. She stepped closer to him until there remained no space between their bodies. Her lab coat rustled against his, black cotton against white nylon. "Cindy?" his voice came out very soft.

Cindy could barely bring herself to meet his gaze as she fingered the hem of his shirt beneath his coat. Shyly, she leaned up and placed a chaste kiss on his parted lips.

He immediately raised a hand to his lips after she kissed him, as if he'd burned her and not kissed her. Her face was bright red and she still hadn't quite mustered the courage to meet his slightly perplexed look. He set his hands behind himself defensively, placing them on the table to steady himself. A shaky buzz permeated through his head as he focused on Cindy's erratic breathing pattern.

Her eyes were averted in shame, and her cheeks were still a harsh shade of scarlet. A strand of hair had escaped her tight ponytail. He reached forward as if in a trance, to tuck it away, letting his mouth linger below the crook of her ear. Gently, he placed his lips to her neck, sucking on the smooth skin there. Cindy brought her hands up his shirt, feeling his tense muscles loosen as she rested his hand above his jeans. He shifted his mouth to her jaw, and languorously drew his lips over hers. She followed his cue and pressed against him until he could feel every curve in her body crush against his chest. As their lips collided in a burst of passion, Jimmy reminded himself that Cindy was his _assistant_ and pulled away abruptly.

Somehow, this thought sobered his desire to kiss her. This whole incident was thoroughly inappropriate on his part. And hers too, seeing as she'd instigated it.

He looked up at her. She was trying her best to mask her obvious disappointment. He shuffled uncomfortably past her.

"Right, umm…if you're done with my schedule…I think you can take off early for the night." He mumbled.

"Okay. See you tomorrow I guess." She offered in a soft, vulnerable tone.

She scrambled her things into her bag and made off before he could even say goodbye.

He stared at the spot where they'd stood just moments ago and sighed. Things had been so simple…so simple…

* * *

><p>Cindy berated herself as she waited for the uptown train. <em>What had she been thinking?<em>

One moment, she'd been stewing in jealousy over Alicia, the next, she'd been...making out with Neutron.

_Neutron. _

He was condescending, arrogant, irritating, insufferable. (Among a host of other things) But he was also..._Neutron_.

Which meant he was charming (in an offhand way), passionate, quirky, and smart as hell.

But that didn't give her free reign to kiss him! She'd crossed a line in their professional relationship. She wasn't even worried about being fired for her conduct, or losing her primary source of income. She was worried about not seeing him again...and not working with him. Although she grumbled about the job to her friends all the time, she did love it in all honesty. She loved teasing Neutron about how messy his reduction formulas were, she loved charting the progress of reactions, she loved getting her hands dirty wiring and screwing and hammering. It was the sole source of stimulation in her mundane college life. And to have the opportunity taken away from her because of one mistake...

Tears misted at the edges of her eyes. She hated herself.

* * *

><p>The next morning, she awaited a call or email or text signaling the end of their partnership. But it never came. So she courageously trudged herself down the street to the subway and boarded the train.<p>

_How would she even face him?_

_Play it cool. Act like it didn't happen. Go about your business. _

* * *

><p>Cindy let herself into the lab, throwing her stuff down on the couch. She glanced at the planner on the counter to confirm Neutron's first appointment.<p>

_Meeting with Astrophysics Council at 2. _

And then, involuntarily, Cindy's eyes travelled to the next page.

Dinner with Alicia at 8pm was crossed out in sharpie.


	10. Assistant IV

**I'm sorry this is dragging out for longer than I intended considering this is a oneshot collection and this assistant thing should probably just be its own story but I like it in a freestyle format where I can pick it up at any given point and be able to write and rewrite alternative endings to the AU! **

**But people seem to like it, and so here's the next installment in the Assistant AU. (Thanks to those who read and reviewed, please keep doing so, your kind words/interest keep me going!)**

**Also, this will be updated more frequently since I've set a word goal for myself for the month!**

* * *

><p>Cindy jumped as she heard footsteps in the hallway. She slammed the planner shut even though she wasn't doing anything wrong—she had just been checking up on his morning appointments. She shoved it across the table until it was far away from her.<p>

"Did you start the notes on the generator?" His voice sounded across the lab as he brushed past her without even looking at her. Her heart sunk. She nodded her head no.  
>"Well?" He shook his head. "I don't pay you to stand around, Vortex."<p>

She grabbed the clipboard on the counter and ran over to the containment zone, feeling smarted by his unfair jab. She never stalled her work—she was always diligent and helpful. She let out an angry huff as she pulled on her gloves. If he was going to be that way, fine. Two could play at that game.

* * *

><p>Jimmy threw a cursory glance at Cindy working conscientiously on her notes. He instantly felt bad for his vindictive comment. But then he remembered her thoroughly improper behavior in the lab yesterday night. <em>What had she been thinking?<em>

Although, if he had to be honest, he hadn't exactly pushed her away at first—he'd responded to her advances with equal eagerness until he'd realized how wrong it was. Oh, blast it all!

He hated to admit it to himself but he was troublingly infatuated with her. Her sparkling emerald eyes and long blonde hair constantly mesmerized him. Her work ethic was admirable as was the depth of her aptitude in the sciences. She challenged him endlessly-questioning his methods and results, criticizing his analyses and his postulates, annoying him to no end in the process—but there was no doubt that she was irreplaceable. Even his greatest rivals didn't dare to face off with the formidable force that was Cindy Vortex. She could hold her own quite efficiently, and he found it an endearing trait.

And of course he'd spent all last night thinking about all of this—after he'd cancelled his date with Alicia.

Alicia had sounded quite disappointed and he'd felt bad, but he knew if he had gone on the date, he would have spent all the time pretending like he was listening to Alicia when he really was thinking of Cindy. And furthermore, it felt wrong…to share such an intimate moment with Cindy and then go on a date with another girl on the same night. He hadn't been sure if he would have been able to shake the memory of her body pressed up against his, the distinct softness of her lips and the willowy curve of her waist—

Suddenly, he seemed to notice that he hadn't begun his work at all. She was such a distraction. It was good that they were working opposite sides of the lab today.

* * *

><p>After an unusually quiet morning, Cindy broke the silence as she interrupted his fervent typing. "You have a meeting with the mayor in thirty minutes."<p>

"Cancel it, I need to finish this—"

"You are not skipping a meeting with the mayor—"

"I'm in the middle of something—" He didn't even look up at her.

"I pressed your damn suit and found your notes so you better go to this. You can't blow off the mayor, Neutron. He funds your—"

"For the love of Tesla Vortex, lay off me, you're not my wife—"

Cindy's lips curled into an angry frown. She threw down the newly pressed suit draped on her arm onto the table.

"You know what? Go, don't go, I don't care anymore, Neutron." She threw up her hands in defeat, turning to leave. "And you can't even bloody look at me." She added.

He finally averted his gaze from his keypad. "I'm looking at you, are you happy?"

"I don't know. Should I be? I mean, clearly I'm not paid for you to stand around and look at me." She mocked.

"Cindy—" Regret filled his throat.

"I make one mistake and you have to crucify me for it." Emotion filled her voice although she tried her level best to maintain her façade of coolness. "Of course any good work I do is instantly discredited by the fact that I made a mistake and followed my damn heart and acted on impulse—"

"I cancelled my date with Alicia, Vortex." He pointed out, bitterly.

"You think I'm supposed to feel good about you throwing that in my face?" She spat.  
>"I'm not throwing anything in your face, I'm stating a simple fact—"<p>

"Right, in case you didn't notice, absolutely nothing about this—" She motioned between them, "is even remotely simple."

Her eyes travelled instinctively to the clock. "And if you plan on receiving your grant, you better get yourself over to town hall within the next ten minutes. I'm not driving you." She cast him a dirty look before throwing his notes on top of the blue suit and walking out angrily.

He stared after her, awestruck.

* * *

><p>The next day, she came in on the dot—not a minute earlier or later than strictly necessary. She walked up to him fearlessly and pointed to the shoddy letter he was working on. "Neutron, I already mailed the mayor a thank you basket and a letter on your behalf because you aren't exactly the most adept at acts of gratitude." Before he could protest or say anything snarky in response, she put up a hand. "I'm not done yet. Hear me out."<p>

He looked at her, taken aback by the cold tone of her voice.

"I made a mistake and crossed the line and I'm sorry. But what you chose to do or choose to do with or without Alicia in the future is none of my concern. I propose that we go back to working on amicable terms but on an entirely professional level."

He could already feel a strange tinge of regret forming in his heart…

"Just to clarify, that means no late night pizza, no movies, no out of work favors. We will work together during and only during the frame of hours we agreed on in my employment contract."

He found himself nodding, but knew that even as he was agreeing to this oddly upsetting arrangement, it was the way it was meant to be originally. He hadn't been looking for a girlfriend after all…he'd been looking for an assistant…and she was certainly a competent one. He ignored the impulsive thought to disagree to her terms, but he felt himself slipping into submissive passivity. Surely it was better for both of them to draw boundaries? After all…they'd never have worked. And they were probably more productive as just a scientist and a lab assistant respectively…he sighed.

"Okay." He acquiesced to the terms in utter surrender. "Let's get to work then."


	11. Supporting Role

**This month has been crazy because of my internship and college work, but I finally managed to crank this out!**

**This is not a continuation of the assistant story because I was dying to work on this idea instead. But no worries, I'll go back to the assistant string at some point- I promise it won't go unfinished. **

**Until then, here's a one-shot about JC receiving college acceptance letters. Truth be told, it was very difficult for me to imagine how these two would actually react given the situation, but I tried my best. It was especially difficult to imagine how Cindy might react although generally she's easier for me to write than Jimmy.**

**Feel free to critique/comment on my interpretation of the characters' actions/feelings in this!  
>And thank you again to all my readersreviewers!**

* * *

><p>For everyone except Retroville High's two smartest students, Jimmy Neutron and Cindy Vortex, March 29th was an uneventful day. The school food continued to puzzle and disgust freshmen and seniors alike, and classes seemed to last an eternity as always. However, school food and long classes only served to exacerbate Jimmy and Cindy's anxiety, although they had dealt with much worse than bad lunch meat and annoying math teachers in the past. Even so, the day seemed to drag on torturously.<p>

* * *

><p>When the bell finally rung, Cindy found herself standing in front of Jimmy's locker. He was already there, waiting for her. She wordlessly gazed at the textbooks in his hands, her expression blank. She tried to hide her shaking hands in her coat pockets, but Jimmy reached out for them and clasped them in his own to reassure her.<p>

"Hey, it'll be okay, Vortex." His kind tone lifted her spirits just a bit.

She could barely bring herself to look up into his piercing blue eyes; she was fighting the shameful sting of tears that had gathered like a film over her eyes. She repressed the urge to cry and nodded her head silently. Hand in hand, they walked in utter speechlessness down the hallway, a rare occurrence for them. Anyone who knew Jimmy and Cindy knew that their normal mode of communication was framed by a series of tense, quarrelsome interactions that generally ended in some sort of passionate physical contact. This was not the case today, as the two remained content to walk back to Jimmy's lab in a consuming sort of muteness.

As they made their way up the path to the lab, Jimmy punched in his entry code on the security keypad and authorized Vox to permit Cindy into his lab as well. Jimmy's voice trembled as he commanded Vox to retrieve his mail from the outdoor chute. And sure enough, there it was. A white envelope, with an elegant red seal and the address of the university of every academic's dreams—Harvard University.

The two had agreed to open their letters together, although Cindy's had come in a day earlier than Jimmy's. She'd fought back the urge to rip open her envelope at several points throughout the night and the following day, and her mother had found it ridiculous that Cindy was choosing to delay some of the most important news of her life in order to keep a promise to "that boy".

But Cindy knew deep in her heart that she wouldn't have wanted it any other way, whether it broke her heart or not. She turned to Jimmy and squeezed his hand before pulling away to fish through her backpack to find her envelope. She extracted it with extreme care. The two shared a longing look before they each ripped the seals and drew out the letters…

* * *

><p><em>"<em>_Dear Mr. James Isaac Neutron, _

_I am delighted to inform you that the Committee on Admissions and Financial Aid has voted to offer you a place in the Harvard class of…"_

_"__Dear Ms. Cynthia Vortex,_

_With sincere regret I must report that the Committee on Admissions and Financial Aid has completed its selection of the class entering in…we were most grateful to even have received applications from so many students like you…although you may be disappointed…"_

* * *

><p>Before she even looked up, Cindy could tell that Jimmy had been admitted. Truth be told, she'd known it since the day she'd met him all those years ago. He was brilliant, clever, and creative, not to mention the fact that he had spent eighteen years of his life making amazingly complex inventions.<p>

Cindy's eyes misted over in tears yet again. She reprimanded herself for her involuntary show of emotion. She'd known this was coming. She'd been admitted at Princeton, Yale, Columbia, NYU, among other colleges. But not Harvard.

And there it was-the inescapable truth of her life—that she was doomed to a sub par existence. The truth that haunted her every waking moment, the truth that weighed her down more than a hundred stones ever could. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to keep from falling apart into Neutron's arms, or taking part in some similarly melodramatic expression of emotion. She reminded herself that this shouldn't have even come as a shock…

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Jimmy's hands rested firmly on his now opened envelope. He examined the plastic seal intently as if to avoid even looking at Cindy. If he was being honest with himself, he had always known he would get into any university of his choosing. His grades were flawless, his inventions were far ahead of his time, and he had already done quite a few projects for major research organizations across the globe. How could they not accept him? Conceited way of thinking, sure, but in the end, it was simply the truth.<p>

Jimmy Neutron was destined for great things.

But Cindy…his heart ached for her…

She was astute, deeply emotionally aware, and very skilled at the liberal arts. This was not to say her skill in the sciences was anything less than extraordinary, but merely to say that her passions lied in the intangible, the abstract. If not for Jimmy Neutron, Cindy Vortex would have been valedictorian and top of her class. But Jimmy Neutron, being the outlier he was, had thrown a wrench in Cindy Vortex's path, merely by merit of existence. His natural genius had barricaded her carefully trained prowess from day one.

Of course she'd been admitted to every other Ivy she'd applied to and some, but Jimmy knew her well enough to know she would take this very harshly. This would only reaffirm her worst fear of relative mediocrity. (Although to be fair, Jimmy reasoned, her standard of comparison was rather flawed to begin with) Jimmy knew Cindy of all people was anything but mediocre. Her talent extended well beyond the sphere of academics. She was an accomplished martial arts master, and she was also a classically trained pianist and vocalist. She was competitive to the point of aggression, but Jimmy had found over the years that this was a rather endearing trait. He'd never thought much of it as she might have—as a floatation device, a lifejacket. He didn't comprehend that for her, competition was the sole mode of survival, the sole mode of rising above the water that threatened to drown her at any given moment.

He sighed and finally looked at her. She was trying her best to keep it together, he could tell. She was disappointed, as he had guessed, and sorely so. He wondered if it was safe to reach out to her, if this of all things would sever their delicately knit ties. "Cindy?" His voice rang out in a mixture of pity and heartbreak and fear.

She couldn't even bring herself to meet his gaze. She averted her eyes from the very sight of him by focusing on her shoes. She wanted to scream. Was she ever good enough? Could she ever be anything more than this? Would she always feel like a second rate scholar?

The worst thing was the pride and love that was filling her heart. It threatened to spill over into an embrace of some kind. She ached to let her boyfriend know that she had known all along that he'd make it. She ached to let him know that she was so, so proud of him.

But she found that his victory so often came at the price of her own. And that was the way it had always been, and seemed, would always be. Cindy Vortex was cursed to play the supporting role.

"Cindy?"

Against her better judgment, Cindy let herself face him. She found the courage to look him straight in the face. "Congratulations, Neutron." Her voice came off much more bitter than she intended and her sour expression belayed her deep jealousy. The jealousy hidden away beneath the love and the pride was now rearing its ugly head at the worst possible moment, and she found herself too exhausted to pull out her whip and tame it.

"Cindy, I'm sorry—you know I wanted you to get in just as much as you did."

"I guess." She shrugged. "Although I don't expect you to understand how it feels." She blurted out.

"Understand how what feels?" He gave her a confused look.

Her voice quivered as she breathed a deep sigh. "Failure."

Jimmy felt something break inside of him with an incredible force.

"Cindy, please don't think you failed just because—" He took a moment to swallow the lump in his throat. "You have to know that this doesn't change anything. You're still the brilliant girl we all know."

"Easy for you to say. You've never spent your life being the perpetual silver medalist."

Jimmy moved closer to her and settled one hand on her shoulder and the other on her cheek. He lovingly traced the line of her jawbone before pulling her into a hug.

"Cindy, don't reduce yourself to silver. At the very least remember that you deserve your silver. You work hard—"

"You don't get it, Neutron." Her lips grazed his.

"I work hard for nothing—"

"Princeton is not nothing. Nor is Yale. Or Columbia." He pointed out.

"Simple question, Neutron. Would you have been happy with just those?"

"It's not the same—" He argued.

"Answer the question." Her voice was filled with deadly venom.

He couldn't say no, he couldn't say it. But he knew it was simultaneously the most correct and the most incorrect answer he could possibly give.

"No." He admitted defeatedly.

"And there you have it." She sent him a smug look, eyes burning with a volatile fire.

"That doesn't mean I wouldn't be perfectly happy at those other institutions, Vortex!" He cried out.

"It doesn't change the fact I will always be second to you no matter what I do."

Jimmy looked at her, a deep throb of fear already welling in his throat.

"Cindy?" His voice was quiet, unassuming.

A few tears streaked down her cheek. She quickly brushed them away so as not to look weak. He touched her shoulder very gently. She nestled her head against his chest. "I…I love you."

"I love you too, Cindy."

"And I'm really proud of you, Jimmy. Believe me, no one is happier than I am that you've been as successful as we all expected." A slight tremor tinged her words.

He held her closer and stroked her smooth blond tresses. He wanted so much to stay like this forever. But he knew forever wasn't that easy…

Cindy hesitated for a second before she turned around and gently kissed him on the mouth. After a minute, she completely retracted herself from him.

"But maybe—" Her voice was on the brink of breaking.

"Maybe it's time I stepped out of your shadow for a bit."

"Cindy-"

She touched his cheek longingly.

"I've been playing the supporting role in my own story for so, so long..." She whispered. Her soft breath grazed his lips.

"Cindy..." Jimmy stared directly into her tear filled emerald eyes with a deep regret.

_Please don't go._

The ghosts of the words died on his lips as she turned and walked away quietly. He had the odd feeling that he'd lost much more than he'd gained, and for once victory felt much more like defeat.

As he watched her lithe figure fade into a silhouette as she made her way down the dark hallway out of the lab, he felt waves of sadness wash over him. How could genius be such a wonderful and terrible thing all at once? Costing him the things and the people he loved, but providing him with a immense world of his own...


	12. Starring Role

**I wanted to offer a short but happier alternative to the last one-shot, and since I didn't see Jimmy getting turned down given his natural genius, I decided to make it so they both received acceptance letters this time around!**

**I'm also aware that this fandom seems effectively dead, at least in terms of fan-fiction, so this may seem pointless. But I'm determined to continue writing about my favorite pair because I enjoy it and I believe that writing fan-fiction really does help me practice writing in a medium other than poetry!**

**That being said, I'd like to thank the meager few who have been reading my work and others' work on the JN section of this website. It really helps keep the love for the show alive when people take interest in fan work for the show years after its finale!**

* * *

><p><em>"Dear Mr. James Isaac Neutron,<em>

_I am delighted to inform you that the Committee on Admissions and Financial Aid has voted to offer you a place in the Harvard class of…"_

_"Dear Ms. Cynthia Aurora Vortex,_

_I am delighted to inform you that the Committee on Admissions and Financial Aid has voted to offer you a place in the Harvard class of…"_

* * *

><p>A triumphant scream pierced the walls of the lab. "Neutron, I got in!" Cindy's bright green eyes lit up with a wild sort of joy. She grabbed ahold of him and kissed him on the lips with unmatched fervor. He picked her up and spun her around and they started to laugh together as she landed on her feet.<p>

"I can't believe it!" She squealed, "We did it!"

"No, Cindy, _you_ did it."

She beamed up at him with an inimitable sort of joy. Receiving verbal affirmation of her accomplishments filled Cindy with a rare sort of pleasure. There were so few people who were willing to let her be her own person, so few people willing to let her claim her achievements as her own.

It was ironic then, that the only person who fully encouraged her headstrong spirit and aggressively competitive nature was her academic rival—Jimmy Neutron. Of course, he was much more than just a rival now…but he'd certainly had a hand in boosting her self-esteem and sense of security.

What she loved most about him in this moment was his willingness to let her slip onto the center stage despite the fact this was his moment too. He understood that this was far greater an accomplishment for her than it was for him—this wasn't to say he hadn't worked for his acceptance. But perhaps it said something to the fact he was guaranteed to succeed if only he applied his natural genius. Cindy, on the other hand, while talented and incredibly hard working, had not had an IQ of two hundred and ten to fall back on. Her victory had come entirely out of a carefully honed work ethic, years of backbreaking work in a number of disciplines, and constant pressure from her parents. Cindy's victory, quite simply put, wasn't always inevitable, where Neutron's (save for any emotional victories) was predictable and in most cases, expected.

She imagined that to take its toll on him as well—it couldn't be easy to live your life defined by a number that relinquished your right to be wrong or your right to not know something. It couldn't be easy to constantly have to try and outdo yourself.

All she knew, when it came down to it, was that they were destined for great things. Apart, they were powerful, but together, they were unstoppable; their passion and pride was unparalleled. They were fated to pull the stars from the sky and sew them into a story of fire and fierceness.


	13. A Nightmare Dressed Like a Daydream

**A very ****grim idea of mine based on a prompt I saw tonight. Sorry for the multiple updates but I'm really feeling the JC love today!**

**As usual, reviews and critique are welcome!**

* * *

><p>He was restless all night. His mind had chained him indefinitely to the torture of memory.<p>

And he knew that every hour he stayed awake thinking of her would be an hour he would have to swallow down the tears and pretend like he was ready for tomorrow…

* * *

><p>Jimmy had been conducting experiments using icicles in the park. As he came up the path that lead back to his neighborhood, he noticed that Cindy was sitting in the cold on a wet bench, rubbing her hands together frantically to generate some warmth. She was clothed in a thin full-sleeved shirt and jeans.<p>

He walked up to her. He called her name a few times to no avail. She was too preoccupied with her thoughts. Finally, he brushed some of the snow off of the bench and sat beside her.

"Do you want my gloves?"

She nodded her head no.

He slipped them off anyways and left them on her lap. She looked indignant for a moment before she snatched them up. On closer examination, he saw tears forming in her eyes…but before he had a chance to offer her a warm sanctuary in his lab or even his coat, she pushed him off the bench and in the most hoarse voice he'd ever heard her use, commanded him to leave her alone to her misery. He'd gotten up, dusted the snow and water from his pants and offered her a hand. She motioned to him to leave once more and he'd left her there…and when he turned back to look at her, she could see her sporting his gloves and clasping her hands to her mouth, her lips kissing the knit fabric quietly…

* * *

><p>"Cindy, I got you a present…" His voice had been shy, anxious even. He remembered feeling strangely scared, as if he was being put on trial by a panel of judges and not the girl he'd loathed (and who loathed him) until very recently…<p>

"A mollusk?" Her disappointment shone through even though she pronounced it charming.

"You're supposed to open it." He sounded much more confident than he felt.

She delicately pried the shell open to find a shining pearl. She let out a gasp and fingered the jewel carefully. "Oh Jimmy…it's beautiful."

His heart quickened. He'd impressed her…perhaps even made her happy.

"It was nothing really…I looked through a couple of oysters…a hundred and thirty seven actually…" He was rambling. _You buffoon! She doesn't care how many oysters you looked through! Way to look like even more of a show off…_

But Cindy ate it up. She moved closer to him and held out her hand for him to take. "That's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me…"

_You can't have very had many nice things then, dear…_

* * *

><p>She looked absolutely radiant under the lamplight. Her skin glowed, her hair was neatly pulled into a bun, with only a few strands of hair falling over her emerald eyes. He'd found it difficult to keep himself away from her…<p>

"Everything turned out alright in the end, huh?" He didn't know what possessed him but he took her hand and kissed her soft pink lips for what seemed like a long minute before he pulled away and walked ahead of her. She stood shell-shocked in the same spot for a second before she ran up to him and linked her hands in his. "Everything turned out perfectly." She affirmed.

* * *

><p>Jimmy tossed and turned in his bed. One night of peace was all he asked, one night…he had to wake up early tomorrow…<p>

* * *

><p>There she was, beautiful as ever, even in death. She was contained in a black coffin carved with flowers. Her straight blond hair laid out behind her. Her eyes were closed, her eyelashes casting shadows across her cheekbone, which was touched with a hint of blush. Her lips were pursed, her pale body dressed in a form fitting dress…<p>

He reached inside the coffin to touch her one last time…but they pulled the lid shut, slapping his hand away.

* * *

><p>He woke up gasping. Before he even had time to orient himself to reality…a figure appeared in his doorway. It was his mother. "Jimmy, it's time to go to the funeral."<p> 


	14. If You Must Falter, Be Wise

**I wrote this with Disturbia by Rihanna on repeat in the background. This is an aged up version of JC on a trip to Australia (which is both a country and a ****continent). They get stranded for unknown reasons and as usual, their arguing comes to an rather...heated climax.**

**Again, appreciate the reviews! Keep them coming please!**

* * *

><p>"Damn it, Neutron, this is all your fault!" Cindy kicked the sand around her.<p>

"_My fault?_ You're the one who insisted on taking the Southern route because it was _allegedly_ faster!"

"The Southern route is faster when you account for southern currents and the Coriolis effect! But I guess we'll never know because you changed our charting yesterday night!" She prodded his red cotton shirt with one finger accusingly.

He laughed nervously, putting an arm behind his head. "I had to do that. Going with your plan might have gotten us stuck somewhere worse."

Cindy looked around. For miles around them, there was nothing but sand, dirt, and arid brush. It was hot as hell—the temperature was high enough that they might just burn to death right here in the desert. All considered, it really couldn't get worse.

"If you think there's something worse than being stranded in the middle of the Outback In July, please enlighten me Neutron."

Jimmy sighed. He was starting to sweat uncomfortably.

"Look, can we agree that this was a terrible idea on both our parts? Highly educated individuals like ourselves should have known better than to venture into Australia in the midst of the hottest summer since 1963." He pinched his shirt to let in some air to no avail.

"I still say it was your fault." She grumbled. He rolled his eyes. She could be such an immature brat. After a few moments, Cindy broke the silence that had taken over their company.

"So what the hell do we do for the next few hours, assuming we live that long? And don't say look for water, because unless a damn miracle happens, we're out of luck on that front."

"Luckily for me, I packed a few extra water bottles in the hover-car."

He gave her a smug grin.

"Luckily for _you?_ What about me?" She demanded, following suit and pinching her own shirt in vain.

"Girls who mock me don't get my water." He grinned.

Cindy rolled up the legs of her capris, revealing the pale hue of her thin, long legs. "Fine, see if I care. When I die, your name will be all over the headlines because you were a selfish—"

Jimmy wasn't listening. He made his way to the hover car a few feet away, and typed in the access code to the safe below his control system. Cindy followed him but was unable to catch his pin code.

He knew he would regret using their scant supply of water to spite her when they inevitably would need water later more than they did right now. But he raised the bottle to his lips, ocean blue eyes peering over the open cap at an enraged Cindy. Her fists were balled as he took his first sip and set the bottle down for a second. She lunged for it with obvious prowess but he grabbed it just in time to dangle it out of her reach. He capped it again and held it tight.

Cindy lunged once more, this time landing directly on top of him. Her heart was beating erratically against his, and their faces were close. He shifted to the left to move out from under her but thought better of it and instead cradled her as he tenderly cupped her cheek. He discarded the water bottle beside him and used his now free hand to cup her other cheek. She kissed him with abandon, pressing into him passionately. The two had to pull apart after a mere few minutes. It was simply too hot. Cindy's skin felt like it was combusting, and Jimmy felt like someone had set fireworks to his chest. They shared a quick, embarrassed glance, emerald and sapphire converging if only for half a second.

As they breathed heavily, recovering from the currently toxic fusion of body heat, Jimmy noticed the bottle of water they'd neglected. The cap hadn't been closed fully, and their precious water supply was slowly dribbling out onto the sand.

_If you must falter be wise._


End file.
